‘Arranged’ car theft

Vehicles end up in Indonesian streets; at home S’wakian owners make money out of insurance claims

KUCHING: Some Sarawakians are known to have “arranged” for their vehicles to be stolen and then sold across the Indonesian border in order to claim their insurance.

This was revealed by West Kalimantan district police chief Brigadier-General Zainal Abidin Ishak at a joint press conference with State Police Commissioner Datuk Talib Jamal, which was attended by local and Indonesian media.

The press conference was held after a meeting between members of the State police and their West Kalimantan counterparts at the police contingent headquarters here yesterday morning.

Zainal said the owners would sell their vehicle at a low price on Indonesian soil before reporting it as being stolen here and profiting from their insurance claim.

However, he acknowledged that these incidences were not the norm as there were genuine cases of vehicles, both cars and motorcycles, being stolen and smuggled across the border by syndicates.

“Very serious,” he replied simply, when asked about the severity of the smuggling of stolen vehicles.

On the issue of Indonesians crossing the border and committing crimes here, Zainal said that such cases usually involved those who entered the State illegally.

Talib concurred, saying that legal migrants usually stayed clear of crime as they were already making “good money”.

Both Talib and Zainal also reiterated their commitment to cooperate in fighting crime involving the issue of illegal logging, narcotics and terrorism by beefing up security along the Malaysia-Indonesia border.

Earlier, senior police officers from both law enforcement agencies attended a meeting aimed at fostering closer ties and better cooperation between the two sides.

Talib and Zainal also agreed on a resolution to improve the level of cooperation, sharing of intelligence and coordination between the State police and their Indonesian counterparts.

Both said these are vital elements in the fight against trans-boundary crime.

Zainal and his delegation of senior police officers from the Polda Kalbar (West Kalimantan district police) arrived here on Thursday night.

The annual meeting was held not only to foster better relations amongst the police from both sides of the border, but to also discuss various issues regarding crime in the State and in West Kalimantan.

The two sides met last year in Pontianak.

Talib said that past meetings between the two sides had created an air of understanding and cooperation which enabled the police to effectively combat crimes occurring along the border of the two countries.

Touching on the issue of human trafficking involving the smuggling of Indonesian nationals into the State, Talib said that local police and immigration officials were closely coordinating with their Indonesian counterparts to patrol the border to prevent such incidents from occurring.

In terms of illegal logging, Talib said the police, together with the General Operations Force (GOF), had launched “more aggressive” operations resulting in a number of arrests and seizures.

Talib also commended the Kalimantan police for their excellent cooperation in handing over stolen vehicles seized on Indonesian soil.

He said such actions enabled the police here to solve many cases of car theft in the State.

Zainal, in his speech, touched on the need for better coordination in conducting joint patrols along the border to combat activities of illegal logging, drug smuggling and terrorism to create a more peaceful and safe border for the people on both sides.

At the end of the meeting, the two police chiefs beat a gong to signify mutual goals and commitments for the wellbeing of both countries.

Source : The Borneo Post